Woo La La
Woo La La, released in Japan as Amai x Kireina (アマイxキレイナ), is a 2009 American 3D computer-animated romantic fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Gingo Animation for Universal Pictures. Directed by Michael Wildshill from a screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick and Billy Frolick, the film stars Josh Hutcherson as Amai Yamada, a young Japanese boy whose parents died of an illness and was sent to an orphanage. A few years later, he meets an innocent and beautiful woman named Kireina Miyazaki (voiced by Debra Messing). The two eventually fall in love, and together they must get away from Warui Kobayashi (voiced by George Takei), a greedy businessman who dislikes couples and brings legendary creatures to life to track down Amai and Kireina. Originally developed under the title Nippon, Woo La La was the first Gingo film to be distributed by Universal Pictures, after Gingo was bought out from 20th Century Fox. It is also Gingo's first film to be presented in 3D. The film was released in the United States and Canada on March 13, 2009, and it received critical acclaim from critics and earned $532 million worldwide on a budget of $164 million. A television series of the same name aired on Cartoon Network from October 2011 until April 2013. A sequel is set for release on July 3, 2019. The film was preceded by an Universal and Gingo animated short named The Sounds of the Ocean. Plot Coming soon! Cast *Josh Hutcherson as Amai Yamada, a young shy but kindness and pampered man living in an apartment in Tokyo. He was an orphan after the death of his parents. His favorite food is sushi. His name "Amai" (甘い) literally means "sweet". **Jonathan Wildshill as Amai as a child. The voice actor is the director's son. *Debra Messing as Kireina Miyazaki, an innocent, kind, trustworthy, overprotective and pretty woman who helps Amai as her boyfriend. Her name "Kireina" (綺麗な) literally means "beautiful". *George Takei as Warui Kobayashi, a haughty, ruthless and greedy businessman who dislikes couples, especially Amai and Kireina. He brings legendary creatures to life to track down Amai and Kireina. His name "Warui" (悪い) literally means "bad". *Ian McShane as Chani, an oni-like creature who is the leader of a team of hench-onis. He is one of Warui's henchmen. *Ken Jeong as Mio, one of Warui's henchmen. Being the Warui's henchman is Mio's first job, despite him being only a teenager. *Brad Garrett as Sumo Gumo, a Sumo wrestler who is one of Warui's henchmen and he is Mio's partner. *Gong Li as Ying Yamada, the adoptive mother of Amai. She takes care of him. *Hiroyuki Sanada as Kabuto, Amai's best friend. He is often loud. *Gedde Watanabe as a sushi chef. *Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Cho. *Dee Bradley Baker provided vocal effects for Amai's pet Japanese raccoon dog Mr. Fazu. Production The idea for a film about a boy and a girl falling in love in Tokyo was proposed by Michael Wildshill during the production of Gingo's 2004 film Computeropolis. At the time, Gingo encouraged everyone at the company to come up with ideas for more computer-animated features. Wildshill, Gingo CEO Geo G., and Karey Kirkpatrick developed Wildshill's concept into a story before pitching it to Gingo. Geo G. described the pitch as "Ico in modern times". Gingo officially announced the film, under the working title of Nippon, on August 1, 2003. Billy Frolick was contracted to write the script for the film with Kirkpatrick. In May 2005, Gingo announced that the film was expected to see a 2008 release. In September 2006, Gingo's then-distribution partner 20th Century Fox scheduled the film, now titled Woo La La, for a March 13, 2009 release. According to Wildshill, the new title was a pun on "ooh la la", which means an exclamation of surprise, and "woo", which means to try to gain the love of a woman. Wildshill commented, "I tried to make the film's name less fun. The title would make sense since this movie is about two Japanese people falling in love." The Japanese release of the film was titled Amai x Kireina. Music The score for Woo La La was composed by Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack was released on March 10, 2009 by Varèse Sarabande. Initially, Wildshill wanted Michael Giacchino to compose the music, but he was too busy with other projects, such as Star Trek, Up, and Land of the Lost (both were released in 2009). Release Woo La La was originally set to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, as part of Gingo's distribution deal with the company, which began in 1998. However, Gingo and Fox did not renew their distribution deal, and in August 2007, Universal Pictures acquired the film's distribution rights, as the company purchased Gingo for $3.85 billion. Universal retained Fox's original release date. The film was accompanied by a Gingo's animated short film The Sounds of the Ocean. Marketing The film's teaser trailer was released on May 16, 2008, and was shown before BJ and Wally: FusionMania. Home media Woo La La was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 1, 2009, by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Reception Critical response The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 98% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10, based on 183 reviews, making it the highest-rated film to date produced by Gingo Animation. The site's consensus states: "Dazzling, wondrous and spectacular, Woo La La offers a clever plot and a total delight to the Gingo anthology." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 89 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences gave the film an "A+" CinemaScore. Box office Coming soon! Reception in Japan Coming soon! Accolades Coming soon! Expanded franchise Sequel In May 2009, director Michael Wildshill commented on a possible sequel by saying, "Could be there a Woo La La 2... on the drawing board? We would love to do another Woo La La, but there are no concrete plans." During an interview in September 2010, Josh Hutcherson expressed interest to reprise his role as Amai Yamada in the sequel, saying "If there is a Woo La La 2, I'll be happy to talk to them about doing it. I do what they tell me on that series. Period. The end. Those people are very smart, and if they think that there is something there to do, there is." In February 2015, Gingo CEO and chairman Geo G. confirmed that they are working on a sequel to Woo La La, with Wildshill and Karey Kirkpatrick writing the screenplay, though Wildshill is unsure if he will direct the sequel or not. According to a report by Variety published in March 2015, Debra Messing was in negotiations to reprise her role of Kireina Miyazaki. In September 2015, it was confirmed by the press that Josh Hutcherson would reprise the role of Amai in the sequel. On November 9, 2015, it was confirmed that Hutcherson and Messing would be reprising their roles as Amai and Kireina, respectively. On June 23, 2016, it was reported that Erica Rivinoja has been hired to do the rewrites of the script. In June 2017, Universal announced that the sequel would be released on May 31, 2019, with Steve Samono, the director of How Frogs Go to London, Hatty and 3 Simple Doods, announced as the director of the sequel. It was also announced that Jess Riol will be returning to produce it. On August 15, 2017, it was announced that the film's release date has been delayed to July 3, 2019, taking the place of the release date previously held by The Secret Life of Pets 2. Television series Transcripts Main To see the main transcript of the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here. Category:Films Category:2000s Category:2009 Category:Films directed by Michael Wildshill Category:Woo La La Category:Gingo Animation films Category:Films distributed by Universal Pictures Category:Gingo Animation Wiki